Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is associated with derangement of myocardial sarcoplasmic Ca-homeostasis and energy production. The molecular mechanism for these changes is unknown. Accordingly, we used genetic and experimentally-induced models of canine dilated cardiomyopathy and tested the hypothesis that these metabolic changes resulted from altered gene expression, as indicated by mRNA content. We studied dilated cardiomyopathy occurring naturally (n = 9) in Doberman pinschers, and in dogs subjected to rapid ventricular pacing (n = 5), in comparison with normal dogs (n = 9). We determined content and integrity of mRNA's using Northern and slot blotting, and measured activities of their translated product for the Ca-release channel and Ca-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum, lactate dehydrogenase of glycolysis, citrate synthase of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and for myoglobin, ATP-synthetase and the adenine nucleotide transporter, which are integral in oxidative phosphorylation. We found that, whereas both mRNA content and enzyme activity for markers of Ca-cycling, glycolysis, and oxidative phosphorylation were downregulated (20-80%) in dilated cardiomyopathy, they were upregulated (10-15%) for tricarboxylic acid cycling and for ribosomal RNA. RNA from cardiomyopathic tissue was up to 50% more degraded than for normal hearts in association with a 150% increase in ribonuclease activity. Downregulation of the Ca-cycle was asymmetric, with the Ca-channel being 65% more affected than the Ca-ATPase. This work supports the general paradigm that transcriptional and translational responses to pathophysiology are major determinants of the metabolic response seen in cardiac failure.